Last week, thousands of Jews around the world following the daily regimen of Talmud study known as daf yomi completed the tractate of Kiddushin, whose name means “betrothals,” or, more literally, “sanctifications.” Dovid Bashevkin explains the ritual—perhaps better described as a legal transaction—that is the tractate’s focus, and why the Talmud devotes so much space to it while ignoring the actual marriage ceremony almost entirely:
The very name kiddushin, the Talmud explains, derives from the term k’dushah, [sanctity]. Marriage is an act of holiness, and the source of the holiness is from the preparation, the designation, the sanctification prior to the actual marriage. . . .
The first occurrence of the word holy in the Torah is in reference to Shabbat. And the holiness of Shabbat itself is an exercise in preparation. “Whoever prepares before Shabbat, eats on Shabbat,” the Talmud reminds. Holiness means to be set apart, removed, deliberate. Profane means uncared for, careless, and messy. A commitment to holiness is a commitment to the deliberate, intentional, routinized acts that ultimately pave the way for the experience of holiness itself. Moments of spirituality, ecstasy, even intimacy, do not provide long-lasting holiness without the preparation for those experiences.
Spirituality without religious preparation will never yield a life of sustained holiness.
Read more on Tablet: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/cant-hurry-love-talmud-tractate-kiddushin